“I was asking merely because I heard you wereplanning to stand for the new parliament — as a Nationalist, as aRouge.”
Tremblay looked daggers at Marc, but did notreply.
“Thank you for your cooperation,” Marc said,and turned his back to the man.
Louis LaFontaine was in every way a contrast to hisyoung colleague. He was mannerly, cooperative, appreciative of thedelicate situation Marc had been put in, and acutely aware of theimportance of the investigation. He asked after Beth’s health, andsat with perfect calm as Marc took him through the sequence of keyquestions he had asked the others. LaFontaine answered promptly butalways without elaboration. He was a man who husbanded his wordsand kept his feelings intensely private.
When asked about the bathroom and thelaudanum removed from it, he said, “I did not use our host’s bath,though I was tempted to. The room appeared to be unoccupied when Ipassed it on my way upstairs shortly before ten.”
Marc mentioned the sherry and his desire toknow where it might have originated. “Hincks wrote me that Macaulayhad an excellent cellar,” LaFontaine said, “so, as far as I know,none of us brought along anything to drink.”
“I’ve been told that someone was heardleaving their bedchamber upstairs about midnight. Did you happen tohear anyone in the hall at that time — while you were working onthe French draft of our agreement, perhaps?”
LaFontaine’s lips moved in the slight flinchthat stood for a smile among his few gestures. “Not unless I waslistening to myself.”
It was Marc’s turn to flinch. “Are you sayingit was you, sir, who walked down the hall towards the stairs atmidnight?”
“It was. And I walked down the stairsand made my way through the shadows towards the parlour, where Iwished to observe the fully risen moon shine upon the snow outsidethe French doors.”
Marc’s heart skipped a beat. At last, apossible witness to what happened in the little office next to theparlour. Perhaps LaFontaine had seen the light in there or evennoticed who the mysterious visitor might have been.
“Was Graves Chilton in his office, sir, whenyou approached the parlour?”
“Of course he was. He hailed me like a longlost friend, and invited me in for a chat and a drink. Naturally Iaccepted.”
Marc’s heart damn near stopped.
EIGHT
LaFontaine leaned across the table towards Marc witha look of concern on his face. “It was just a drink and a briefexchange of pleasantries, with execrable English on my part — nomore than ten minutes in all.” Then he added wryly, “I did notpoison the fellow.”
Marc was abashed, at his extreme reaction andat the traitorous thought that had prompted it. He recovered asbest he could, grateful again for LaFontaine’s unshakeable aplomb.“Would you mind telling me, sir,” he said at last, “precisely whatoccurred?”
“Certainly. Mr. Chilton was in the doorway ofhis bureau, having heard me shuffling down the dark hallway, and hebegged me to join him in a celebratory drink. I asked him what hewas celebrating, and he said the conclusion of his first week atElmgrove and his success in his new position. I thought, why not? Iwas too excited to sleep, and I too had something tocelebrate.”
Marc was pleased to hear that this man, whomight well lead their unified party to future glories and whoseemed so aloof at times, could be too excited to sleep. “So youentered the office?” he prompted.
“I did. Mr. Chilton waved me to a chairopposite him. On the desk lay a silver flask, and I realized, toolate, that the fellow had been celebrating from it for some time.Near it sat an uncorked bottle of sherry.”
“Were there any glasses?”
“No. I was afraid he was going to bid meshare his flask, but he smiled and asked me to drink a toast withthe sherry. It was, he said, a gift, and he did not wish to open itand drink alone. Relieved, I acquiesced, and he immediately excusedhimself and returned a minute later with two small crystalgoblets.”
“From the dining-room,” Marc suggested. “Didhe happen to say who gave him the gift?”
“No. I assumed it was from his employer,either Mr. Macaulay or his former one in England. But he never saidone way or the other.”
“So he uncorked the sherry and poured out twoglasses?”
“Yes. I took only a single finger in myglass. He filled his to the brim. We toasted his success. I wasabout to leave when he started to talk about the trials andtribulations of being a butler, and it was then I realized it wasnot my poor grasp of rapidly spoken English but his inebriationthat was causing my failure to understand what he was going onabout. Very politely I disengaged, and as I was leaving, I pleadedwith him not to drink any more, but to go straight to bed.”
“And you did not notice anything odd aboutthe sherry?”
LaFontaine smiled. “I take it that I shouldhave, as it was probably laced with laudanum?”
“It might have been, though someone elsecould have joined Chilton after you left, and doctored itsurreptitiously. That’s why I’m asking.”
LaFontaine paused to think about the matter.“To be honest, whenever I drink sherry, it’s invariably sweet, so Ihave no reference point for dry sherry like Amontillado. But, yes,it definitely seemed ‘off’ in some way. I recall making a face atthe time, but I did not wish to be discourteous by suggesting hisvalued gift might be tainted. And I did go back to my room and fallinto the deepest sleep I’ve had since leaving Montreal.”
“I’m grateful that you didn’t consume anymore than a thimbleful, sir. It sounds very much like the sherrywas doctored before it was given to the butler — the cork beingremoved and then replaced after the drug was poured in.”
“I see. So you will be looking for the personwho gave Mr. Chilton the sherry?”
“It would seem so,” Marc said, thenremembered to ask, “By the way, were there indications that Chiltonhad been working at his accounts?”
“There was a big ledger on the desk, but itwasn’t open, and I didn’t notice any pens lying about loose. I’dhave to say that he had either finished his work or had gotdrinking and never begun.”
“Well, sir, I do wish to thank you. You’vebeen very helpful.”
“I just wish the fellow had taken myadvice.”
Marc got up, and the two men shook hands.
“I look forward to our session with Robertlater today,” LaFontaine said.
So did Marc, though he was painfully awarethat it might be an abortive meeting if he and Cobb could notlocate the cold-blooded murderer amongst them.
As soon as LaFontaine left, Marc began thelaborious but necessary process of making detailed notes on eachinterview, including the content and his own thoughts about itspertinence to the case. Cobb would do the same, and they would notonly compare notes in a subsequent, freewheeling discussion buttake time alone to peruse each other’s written comments. It was aprocedure that had paid dividends in their past investigations, andhe hoped it would do so in this one.
Regarding the laudanum: he knew now that ithad been safely on the bathroom shelf at nine-thirty or so whenBergeron completed his bath. It may have been there when Tremblaytook his bath a few minutes later or, indeed, Tremblay himself mayhave taken it with him. If not, then anyone, guest or servant,could have slipped across the rotunda to the unlocked bathroomafter the house had settled into sleep at ten o’clock, and spiritedit away. To do what? Doctor a bottle of sherry. That doctoredbottle was on Chilton’s desk at midnight when LaFontaine drank atoast from it. So, sometime between, say, ten-fifteen and midnight,the killer slipped out of one or another of the north wings, paddedup the hall to Chilton’s office, and offered him a deadly gift. Intheory any of the guests could have brought the Amontillado withhim in his luggage and kept it out of sight. While the servantswould not normally be in possession of such a treasure, if they hada motive to kill Chilton, they could have obtained it or, morelikely, have already had it squirreled away for some rainy-daycelebration. Marc knew from his youth on his uncle’s estate inEngland that servants had access to wine and spirits, not only fromtheir master’s stores but from those of neighbouring houses wherethey were often loaned out. Also, he had to remember that thesherry could still have been doctored after LaFontaine’svisit, though that possibility was now remote.